Tanya Nicole Kach

Tanya Nicole Kach (born October 14, 1981)[1] is an American woman who made the headlines for being held captive for ten years by a security guard at the school she attended.[2] Thomas Hose, her captor, eventually pled guilty to statutory rape and other related offenses and was sentenced to five to fifteen years in prison.[3][4]

Captivity[edit]

Thomas Hose was a security guard at Cornell Middle School, McKeesport, Pennsylvania, where Kach was a student. Hose befriended Kach, often taking her out of classes to talk to her and one day when he caught her skipping class, he kissed her. Over time, Hose convinced Kach to run away from her family and move in with him which she did in February 1996.

For the first four years she wasn't allowed out of the house. Hose lived with his parents and son[2] and went to great lengths to keep Kach hidden from them. She was confined to his second story bedroom all day and had to go to the toilet in a bucket. In 2000, Hose created a new identity for Kach, "Nikki Allen", and introduced her to his parents as his girlfriend who would be moving in with them. After this she was occasionally allowed to leave the house but had a strict curfew. Six years later she escaped.[5][6]

Escape and later life[edit]

After being allowed some time outside of the house, Kach with time realized that her relationship with Hose was not normal. She escaped from captivity with the help of Joe Sparico,[7] a grocery store owner in her neighborhood, by revealing her true identity to him and asking him to send police to the house. Kach has since written a book about her experiences entitled Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid: The Tanya Nicole Kach Story. (Tate Publishing, 2011, ISBN 978-1613467596).[8]

Kach was happy to be reunited with her family but has since then become estranged from her father.[9] Since her escape Tanya is now engaged and is now a step-mother to her fiancé's daughter and son.